Roller conveyors are known and typically include at least one powered or motorized roller and a plurality of idler or freely rotating rollers. The idler rollers are driven via the powered roller and a plurality of O-rings or bands around adjacent rollers. For example, the motorized roller may be connected to and drive an adjacent idler roller via one O-ring, while the adjacent idler roller may in turn be connected to and drive a second adjacent idler roller via another O-ring, and so on along a zone or set of rollers of a roller conveyor. The O-rings are thin rubber bands positioned within grooves at an end of the rollers.
The O-rings of such conveyors are thin and, thus, may burn out and break if slipping occurs between the roller and the O-ring, such as may occur during starting and stopping of the rollers when articles are positioned on the rollers. In order to replace the O-rings, the rollers have to be at least partially removed from the sidewalls of the conveyor. Because slippage often occurs between the rollers and the O-rings during starting and stopping of the rollers when articles are positioned on the rollers, such roller conveyors are not well-suited for accumulating articles on one or more zones of the conveyor. Also, the speed of such known roller conveyors is typically limited to approximately 150 to 200 feet per minute (fpm) to reduce wear on the O-rings.